News

Following hot on the heels of their latest release, Remorsecapade, and a touring schedule that has already taken them across Canada, the US and back, Toronto’s Woodhands are unleashing a free EP highlighting a handful of the remixes that the album has inspired.  The appropriately titled, Remixcapade is available for download from the Paper Bag Records website now (link below) and includes five remixes and a special piano version of ‘Dissembler’ from the band’s Dan Werb. Woodhands will also be taking their unstoppable dance party on the road again this summer with stops at Ottawa Bluesfest, Toronto’s Pride Festival, Calgary’s Sled Island and the East Coast’s Evolve Festival (dates below).  Keep your eyes peeled for updates to the summer schedule as the guys finally set their sights towards Europe!

Download Remixcapade here: http://paperbagrecords.com/shop/remixcapade

Remorsecapade dives deeper into the emotional territory of the band’s debut album Heart Attack, painting strangely compelling portraits of lost souls inhabiting the late night abyss of dance clubs (“I Should Have Gone With My Friends”), sweaty handholding (“Pockets”), and – of course – heartbreak, here described as ‘doubling’. The album runs from the deceptive bubble gum pop arrangement of “Dissembler” to the explosive punk rock/electro hybrid of “Coolchazine”, and throughout, Woodhands offers listeners a rich journey through the scorched landscape of what the duo’s sweaty brand of electro has now become: risky, emotionally resonant, and highly addictive.

“For me, Remorsecapade totally captures the ups and downs and insanity of interpersonal relationships,” says Dan Werb. “All pop music is about love, but our pop music is about how fucking insane love can be.”

More of the boys can also be seen in the recently completed, and quite brilliant, video for ‘Dissembler’ that’s been making the rounds.  Watch the video here.

Since dropping their debut album in April 2008, Woodhands has been touring constantly with dates across North America, Japan, China, and Europe. Along with their hectic touring schedule, Dan and Paul have also been cranking out remixes and cover tracks (including a version of ‘Electric Avenue’ blessed by Eddy Grant himself) that have attracted high-level praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, NME and Q Magazine which named Woodhands as one of ‘The Ten Best New Bands On Earth’ in their post-SXSW issue last year.

Woodhands Summer Tour Dates

May 25 @ Habourfront Centre, Toronto (Inside The Musician’s Studio)
July 1-2 @ Sled Island, Calgary
July 3 @ Pride Festival Outdoor Main Stage, Toronto
July 12 @ Le National, Montréal (with Passion Pit)
July 15 @ Blues Fest, Ottawa (with Champion)
July 24 @ Evolve Festival, Antigonish

Born Ruffians and Paper Bag Records are pleased to announce the video debut of “What To Say”, the lead single from Say It, out June 1 on Paper Bag Records.

CLICK HERE to view the video.

Born Ruffians are no strangers to entertaining and innovative videos. However, the band has upped the ante with “What To Say.” The groundbreaking clip is a collaboration between director Jared Raab and artist/computer programmer Rob Bairos. The video was culled from footage recorded entirely off of a vintage oscilloscope. Oscilloscopes are used in the sciences, medicine, engineering, telecommunications and industry but this is the first time one has been used to create an original music video. The primary use of the instrument is for viewing voltages and is made up of a single point of light, moving quickly across a screen in order to draw images – that means the entire Born Ruffians video for “What to Say” displays vector images made from only one continuous line. The footage was shot once on video, edited, converted for use on the oscilloscope and then shot again directly off the vintage machine. Though other people have reprogrammed oscilloscopes to display images in the past, this “video to scope” process is the first of its kind.
“There was a great deal of trial an error involved in finding what worked and what didn’t,” explains Raab. “We were constantly experimenting to try to make the best use of the scope’s eccentricities.”

The scope you see in the video was actually built in the ’40s and the imagery and atmosphere created in the video is the result of a collaboration between this machine and a computer system built 70 years later.

In addition to the video and album, Paper Bag Records will release the “What to Say” single digitally on May 4th . The single includes the a-side title track along with a previously unreleased b-side “Plinky Plonky”. To celebrate both the release of the single and the album, the band has scheduled a North American tour. The trek kicks-off May 28th in Toronto at Horseshoe Tavern and wraps up June 25th in Peterborough at Red Dog. Full details (LP/single track list, tour dates) below.

CLICK HERE to pre-order Say It on CD.

Say It – North American Tour Dates

May 28:  Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
June 03: Los Angeles, CA – Echo (All Ages)
June 04: San Francisco, CA, – Rickshaw Stop (All Ages)
June 06:  Portland, OR- Holocene (21+)
June 07: Seattle, WA – The Vera Project (All Ages)
June 08:  Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Hall
June 09:  Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
June 11: Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room
June 12: Calgary, AB – Republik,
June 13: Saskatoon, SK  – Amigo’s
June 14: Winnipeg, MB -  West End Cultural Centre
June 15:  Minneapolis, MN – Turf Club (21+)
June 16:  Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall (18+)
June 17:  Cleveland, OH  – Beachland Tavern (All Ages)
June 18:  Brooklyn, NY – The Bell House
June 19:  New York, NY – Santos Partyhouse
June 20: Allston, MA, USA – Great Scott (18+)
June 23:  Montreal, QC – Il Motore
June 24: Ottawa, ON – Mavericks
June 25:  Peterborough, ON – Red Dog

“What To Say”
Single – May 4, 2010
Track list:
1. What To Say
2. Plinky Plonky

Say It
CD – June 1, 2010
Track list:
1. Oh Man
2. Retard Canard
3. Sole Brother
4. What To Say
5. The Ballad Of Moose Bruce
6. Higher & Higher
7. Come Back
8. Nova-Leigh
9. Blood, The Sun & Water
10. At Home Now

It is with absolute sadness to report that our dear friend Devon Clifford, the drummer of You Say Party We Say Die, passed away last night in a Vancouver hospital surrounded by his family and friends. He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him.

We request that we respect the family’s privacy during this incredibly difficult time, and thank you for your support.

UPDATE:

Devon’s family has released this statement:

YSPWSD’s Devon Clifford experienced a massive brain hemorrhage resulting from congenital defects while on stage in Vancouver on Friday night and fell into a coma. A surgery was performed but sadly doctors were unable to save his life. He was 30.

Devon Clifford was an extremely gifted drummer and determined character. He loved his family, loved his band, loved traveling, loved being on stage and loved meeting people around the world. He was smart, witty, passionate, and music meant everything to him. He was also incredibly generous with his love and respected everybody he came into contact with. This was underlined by his work with the under privileged at the Portland Hotel Society.

The Clifford family would like to take this opportunity to remind young people to have the courage to follow their dreams like Devon did.

The family would also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody around the world for their kind words and stories about how Devon impacted their lives.

——

Donations in Devon’s memory can be made to Pivot Legal Society, a cause that was close to his heart:

Click Here to Donate To Pivot Legal Society

Possibly Canadian music’s best kept secret at the moment, Mathemagic, are set to release their debut EP through Paper Bag Digital on April 13^th.  Over the past few weeks the band has been championed by the likes of Pitchfork Media, Stereogum and The Fader.  Mathemagic have also completed remixes for label-mates You Say Party! We Say Die! and CFCF while having their material reworked by the emerging Memoryhouse.

Mathemagic is the collaboration of brothers Evan and Dylan Euteneier from Guelph Ontario. They capture the feeling of the summer using their warm, dazed guitar riffs, barely-there synths, and blissed out harmonies.  The songs draw inspiration from The Beach Boys to Animal Collective and contemporaries such as Washed Out, Friend, and Toro Y Moi.  The brothers initially worked on separate projects until coming together as a band last summer.

“We decided to start collaborating on a project and wrote a few songs where we tried to be as creative as possible with the sounds and ideas that we used,” says Dylan.  “Generally we don’t really have a specific writing process. We usually just build off of a sound, or riff that we really like. We have tried to stay away from using samples, and rely on our own vision.”

Mathemagic are currently working on a full length album that will be released on Paper Bag Records later this year.

What the blogs are saying about Mathemagic:

On early evidence, Canadian duo Mathemagic seem to be working in a hazy but delicate nu-gaze vein, favoring shimmering drones and layered voices heavy on the reverb. “Breaststroke” is from a self-titled EP according to their MySpace, and it’s utterly devoid of friction, but in the best possible way: drums seems to be falling down stairs in slow motion, handclaps keep time, and a twinkling synth seems refracted by sunlight. Pitchfork Media

“Beach Days”, the new demo Evan has conjured up, is another nebulous, spellborn and distantly aching cut set to swallow your days + soothe your soul. If, on the other hand, this is your first encounter with EE, then you may want to lie on your front in a dark room and think of somewhere that smells of paradise. Transparent

It’s interesting how many of these “chillwave” guys have photos of themselves (or others) softly superimposed over some sort of natural/woodsy/beach-going backdrop: It’s because they and their airy sounds seep directly into the ocean around them. (It’s also probably because they know about Phil Elverum.) Ontario bedroom-psych pilot Evan Euteneier and Dylan Euteneier continue the tradition, but musically offer a few of their own downcast, spacious details to “Breaststroke,” Stereogum

The first time we posted a Mathemagic song, the band was so new we accidentally called them Mathemagics. But now that we’ve known them for a week, it feels like an eternity and they know our deepest secrets, ie we love rainsticks and any songs that sound like rainsticks were a major inspiration. Which “High” is, so of course we love it, and if Mathemagic keeps cranking songs like it and “Breaststroke,” we are going to have clear out some space for koi pond in the office. So peaceful! Expect a five song EP from the band “in the next few weeks.” The Fader

I’m just happy to have found them at all. With only three songs available the band has absolutely wrapped me up in their gorgeous swirls of electronic sounds, warm vocals, programmed drums, reverbed guitars and hand claps. Living Ears

Sally Shapiro returns with a remixes EP from her recent album My Guilty Pleasure, like she did with her previous album Disco Romance. The EP contains eight remixes by the likes of  CFCF, Bottin, Lovelock, FM Attack, Bogdan Irkuk, Bostro Pesopeo, Boat Club and Low Motion Disco.  The EP will be released by Paper Bag Digital on April 20^th.  Download a ‘megamix’ of the album below.

Born Ruffians are set to unleash the jagged and galloping sounds of their brilliant second album, Say It, on stages across North America.  If the entusiasic reaction to the band’s recent sets at SXSW and CMW are anything to go by, these venues will be left sweaty and danced out. The twenty-date tour will start in Toronto on May 28th at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern (dates below).  Say It will be released in Canada on June 1st on Paper Bag Records.

The Acorn’s long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s wildly successful Glory Hope Mountain is finally set for release in Canada on Paper Bag Records.  After spending two years on the road, Rolf Klausener and company began work on the album in the summer of 2009.  No Ghost will be released on June 1st.  Singles and tour dates supporting the release will be announced soon.

Since the release of Glory Hope Mountain, the Ottawa-based band have toured Europe and North America extensively and accrued a cord of critical love for both their live show and their recorded output. They’ve graced the cover of Canada’s National music magazine, Exclaim and were selected to the 2008 Polaris Music Prize longlist.  Recently, Glory Hope Mountain was included on the longlist for the Uncut Music Award which rewards the “most inspiring and rewarding musical experience” of the past year.  Glory Hope Mountain was the only Canadian band of the 25 artists on the list which also includes albums by Bob Dylan, Dirty Projectors, Wilco, Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear. Well respected by their peers, The Acorn have also did a slew of high-profile support tours for the likes of Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Calexico, and a massive, sold-out tour in 2009 with Mercury-prize winners, ELBOW.  Unexpected praise came from Kanye West when he proclaimed “This is beautiful!” after posting the video for ‘Crooked Legs’ on his blog.

In the summer of 2009 the band isolated themselves at a cottage in Northern Quebec to begin work on what was to become No Ghost.  Although unplanned, this album represents the closing of a trilogy that began with their debut album, The Pink Ghosts (2004), and their Blankets & Tin Fist EPs in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Songs took shape at all hours, crafted from hazy late-night improvisations and early morning melodies pulled from the thinning threads of sleep. Modernity clashed with the bucolic via exploratory percussion, feedback, acoustic textures and the natural surrounding sounds. The band then traded trees for telephone poles to finish recording in a sweltering heatwave at Montreal’s Treatment Room Studios (Plants & Animals, Angela Desveaux). There, the breezy ease of rural surrounds was buried under sweat-caked skin and cracked asphalt, birdsong drowned out by thick air and engine hum.

Free from the emotional weightiness of Glory Hope Mountain’s highly personal material, No Ghost features the levity and spontaneity reminiscent of The Acorn’s infamous live shows, all the while showcasing Rolf Klausener’s literate and vivid lyrics. Swathed in Talk Talk-esque spaciousness and atmospheric feedback reminiscent of early Yo La Tengo or Crazy Horse, No Ghost is a fitting soundtrack to both the tranquillity of the country, and the sodium-lamp lit romance of city nights.

The end result is a recording swaddled in dichotomy: togetherness and isolation, acoustic and electric, destruction and restoration.

You can pre-order No Ghost HERE. The album will be available June 1st on CD, Digital, and Limited Edition, 180gram red vinyl. The LP will be pressed in an extremely limited quantity of 300 and will be housed in hand silk-screened sleeves.

It’s our busiest year at SXSW! Be sure to check out our newest signings The RAA and Born Ruffians!

YOU SAY PARTY! WE SAY DIE!

March 17
5:00 pm – Canadian Blast Party @ Under the Big Top at Brush Square (Across from the Hilton)
11:00 pm – SXSW Showcase @ Elysium
12:15 am  – PureVolume Party @ PureVolume House

March 18
4:00 pm – The Hype Machine’s Lose Control 2 Party @ Vice
1:00 am – Paper Bag Records Showcase @ Speakeasy

March 19
2:30 pm – Consequence of Sound Party @ Republic Live

WOODHANDS

March 17
3:45 pm – The Hype Machine’s Lose Control 2 Party @ Vice
2:00 am – PureVolume Party @ PureVolume House

March 18
11:00 pm – Paper Bag Records Showcase @ Speakeasy

March 19
12:45 pm – WOXY / Music by the Slice Party @ Home Slice Pizza

March 20
12:10 pm – OMDC Showcase @ Paradise on 6^th (Canada House)
4:00 pm – Rolling Stone Party @ Peckerheads

BORN RUFFIANS

March 17
10:00 pm – Warp Showcase @ The Phoenix

March 18
3:35 pm – Schubas / Lincoln Hall 14^th Annual SXSW Round Up @ Yard Dog Gallery

March 19
10:00 pm – Windish Agency Showcase @ Emo’s

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE

March 17
12:45 pm – Brooklyn Vegan Party @ Emo’s (main stage)
3:00 pm – The Hype Machine’s Lose Control 2 Party @ Vice
5:30 pm – Force Field / Terrorbird Party @ Red 7

March 18
12:55 pm – Schubas / Lincoln Hall 14^th Annual SXSW Round Up @ Yard Dog Gallery
3:40 pm – Soundcheck Magazine Party @ Emo’s Annex
5:40 pm – Consequence of Sound / Sled Island Party @ Republic Live
1:00 am – Saddle Creek Records Official Showcase @ Maggie Mae’s

March 19
3:00 pm – The Onion / Canvas Media Party @ Mohawk
5:30 pm – Muzzle of Bees Backyard BBQ

CFCF

March 17
12:45 pm – Austin Pet Care Awareness Stage @ Epoch Coffee

March 18
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm – The Fader Magazine Stage
8:00 pm – 2:00 am – Paper Bag Records Showcase @ Speakeasy

March 19
1:30 pm – Dub Frequency Presents: The Loft Thursday Day Party @ Malverde
5:30 pm – Vice Magazine Party

LITTLE GIRLS

March 18
10:00 pm – Paper Bag Records Showcase @ Speakeasy

March 19
12:25 pm – M for Montreal @ Paradise on 6^th (Canada House)
2:10 pm – Rooftop Riot @ The Blind Pig
11:00 pm – Epicsauce.com / Neon Reverb Party @ Music Gym

March 20
4:00 pm – Ballistic Missile / Parade of Flesh @ Club Primos

WINTER GLOVES

March 18
1:30 pm – AFM Canada / ACTRA Showcase @ Paradise on 6^th (Canada House)
12:00 am – Paper Bag Records Showcase @ Speakeasy

March 19
3:00 pm – University of Texas Radio KVRX Party @ Okay Mountain (ALL AGES!)

March 20
1:30 pm – WOXY / Music by the Slice Party @ Home Slice Pizza

We are incredibly pleased to announce the Canadian release of Born Ruffians‘ second album, Say It, due June 1st on Paper Bag Records. If Born Ruffians’ 2008 debut album Red Yellow and Blue was the result of a talented and precocious gang of freshmen, their 2010 follow-up, Say It, would be the project they left school to finish – a declaration that they’re smart and ambitious enough to make it on their own, and furthermore, that they’re in it for the long haul.

Taking two weeks to record the album, the band finds itself teaming up again with producer Rusty Santos. The Ruffians and co. holed up at Mississauga’s Metalworks studio and loosed the reins on their ambitions, experimenting with Minimoogs and saxophones ebfore eventually scaling much of it back in the mixing process.

The result is a very mature album, further amplifying the band’s unique voice and sound, ready to take them as far as they want to go. And that includes a very thorough tour of North America including SxSW and CMW. See tour dates below!

CLICK HERE for a free download of ‘Sole Brother‘, a track off the new album!

CLICK HERE to pre-order the album!

Say It tracklisting:

1. Oh Man
2. Retard Canard
3. Sole Brother
4. What To Say
5. The Ballad Of Moose Bruce
6. Higher & Higher
7. Come Back
8. Nova-Leigh
9. Blood, The Sun & Water
10. At Home Now

Tour dates:

March 4 – NYU Kimmel Center w/ Man Man (NYU students only), New York, NY
March 14 – Toronto, ON @ CMW Phoenix Concert Theatre
March 17 – SXSW Warp Showcase @ The Phoenix, Austin, TX
March 18 – SXSW Shuba’s Showcase @ Yard Dog, Austin, TX
March 19 – SXSW Windish Agency Showcase @ Emo’s, Austin, TX

Hot off the release of their latest album, XXXX in the US on February 9th, You Say Party! We Say Die! will be performing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. You can catch them on Saturday February 27^th in Surrey alongside Tokyo Police Club and Wintersleep. If you’re not one of the lucky ones attending these shows, perhaps you caught YSP!WSD! today at Cypress Mountain or at the Orpheum in Vancouver this past January, playing to a sold out show with Phoenix! And if you missed that too, not to worry because the band is coming to a city near you! Tour dates are listed at the end of this post.

Check out their new video ‘There is XXXX (Within My Heart)’ from the album XXXX, directed by Hill Kourkoutis.

You Say Party! We Say Die! “There is XXXX (Within My Heart)” from the album XXXX. from Paper Bag Records on Vimeo.